


Romantic Victories of Peter the Great

by inlovewithnight



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-17 22:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/182199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithnight/pseuds/inlovewithnight





	Romantic Victories of Peter the Great

They met in the library, where Pete was briefly concerned that he was actually going to have to fight this guy over a book on conflicts in the Caucasus and how they influenced Russian military policy throughout history. The guy was taller than him, but skinny, and Pete felt pretty sure that he could kick him in the kneecap and then hit him over the head with the backpack full of books he was already hauling around.

The guy apparently had a pretty good radar for impending violence, though. "You need this?" he asked, nudging his glasses higher on his nose. "Because I just need one chapter. I can photocopy that and you can have the book."

"That would be great," Pete said, relaxing his grip on his backpack. "Thanks."

"No problem." He stood hipshot for a minute, checking the table of contents, and Pete let his eyes wander up and down appreciatively. "Sweet, yeah, chapter five, twenty pages."

"What class do you need it for?" Pete asked.

"Tsarist Russian History."

Pete raised his eyebrows and leaned against the shelf. "History major? I'm poli-sci. We're either cousins or mortal enemies, I can't remember which."

The guy smiled in a way that made Pete's stomach climb up toward his ribcage and start rattling around a little. "History minor, actually. Math major. So we're not related."

"A math major who's also interested in something that doesn't involve numbers?" Pete shook his head and boosted his backpack up on his shoulder. "You're like a unicorn."

The guy stared at him for a minute, then started to smile again. "My name's Mikey. Why don't you come with me to copy this, and then I'll buy you some coffee?"

(Later, when Pete tells the story, he'll say it's the only relationship he ever owed to Peter the Great.)

**

Things Pete learns quickly about dating a math geek:

1\. Don't interrupt him while he's working.  
2\. Just put food and coffee on the desk and walk away.  
3\. He doesn't even want to talk to you until his problem sets are done. Much less have sex.  
4\. But he looks so hot when he's thinking.  
5\. If you do convince him to leave the desk and have sex, make sure all markers are put away in the bed area, or he will write equations up and down your skin.

(Later, Pete looks in the mirror and takes picture after picture that shows all of the equations backwards.)

**

Mikey has a friend-slash-ex named Frank, who's studying kinesiology and bartends part-time. Pete and Mikey have a standing Friday night date at the bar where he works, where they eat shitty pizza and drink pitchers that Frank gives them for half-price and abide strictly by a pact to not discuss anything related to academics.

One night Mikey wanders off to play pool with some guys from his Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry class (Mikey tried to explain non-Euclidean geometry to Pete once. Pete ended up taking his hands, looking him in the eyes, and saying "So it's like magic?" Mikey nodded solemnly, kissed him, and said "Total fuckin' magic.") and Frank slides into the booth across from Pete.

"Hi," Frank says. He’s smiling that too-wide smile that makes Pete suspect he's about to hear something he doesn't want to hear.

"Hi."

"So I'm, like, secretly a saint, and I'm going to give you a little tip that's going to make your life about ten times better."

"You are?"

"Yes." Frank wiggles in his seat and glances over his shoulder to make sure Mikey isn't coming back. "Okay, here's the thing. You're doing pretty good at hitting Mikey's kinks. You have a solid A average. The whole thing where you kinda take control and throw him down on the bed and bang him until he's got bruises on his hips and shit? He's so into that. He is vocal in his praise of that."

Pete stares at him for a good thirty seconds before he manages to say, "Thanks. I guess."

"You're, like, _this close_ to A+ territory, and you don't even know it."

"But you're going to tell me."

"I am, in fact." Frank steeples his fingers and forces a solemn expression. "You need to take Theories of International Conflict with Gershner next semester."

Pete doesn't know what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't scheduling advice. "I...do?"

"Yes."

"But Gershner's, like, a hardcore quantitative guy. That's not my focus. I mean, that class is half game theory and that's so not my..." Frank's smile gets even wider, creepily so. It takes a minute for Pete to get it. "Are you serious?"

"Take the class. Ask him for help with your homework." Frank gets to his feet and raps his knuckles on the table, still smiling. "Trust me."

It's a couple of months before Pete gets to test that theory, but sure enough, talking about game theory gets Mikey's motor running in a way that Pete solemnly swears he will use for good and not evil. Because _holy shit_. Who knew?

(Later, Pete will give credit for both the most mind-blowing sex of his life and the only C on his transcript to Frank Iero.)

**

Perfect moments over the course of a semester:

1\. Study marathons at midterms, pizza going cold on the table and their legs tangled together underneath.  
2\. Figuring out the exact moment to whisper "subgame perfect equilibrium" in the middle of things to make Mikey's eyes roll back in his head.  
3\. Opening his notebook for a frantic last round of cramming before his conflict final and finding a post-it with a summary of subgame equilibria and a reminder of what he gets if he aces that question.  
4\. Splitting the last beer and sharing the blanket on the couch while waiting for the power to come back on after a storm.  
5\. Lying in the dark and reciting Russian tsars and explaining legislative systems models in whispers when neither one of them can sleep.

(Later, Pete names their first cat Catherine the Great, Kitty-G for short. They owe it all to Russian royalty, after all, and Peter the Great would just be egotistical. Not to mention confusing.)  



End file.
